The Incongruity of This
by mimire
Summary: For Touya, failure was not an option. YAOI. akihika.


**Title:** The Incongruity of This  
**Warnings:** none really, except possibly a sea of grammatical errors and Akira is really gay  
**Synopsis:** The most important moment for Akira, and Shindou can't help but ruin it at every turn.  
**Disclaimer: **_Hikaru no Go_ isn't mine.

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Akira glanced down at his watch, noting with great apprehension that it was about time to make his appearance. His performance tonight would either make or break all future endeavors in the field and the thought of failing, then and there, was almost debilitating with the stress it generated.

His hands nervously felt down the sides of his newly bought suit, smoothing imaginary, fine wrinkles he knew were there and letting the fabric absorb the sweat from his palms. Countless checks in the mirror assured him that his teeth were immaculately clean, hair neatly in place, clothes ironed, shoes polished, nails clipped. He felt anal, fidgety, but knew that first impressions, especially here and now, would last a lifetime.

He strolled out confidently after finally accepting his look, easily falling into step alongside an enthusiastic reporter. He walked with him only to the main room, all the while chatting amicably as if he hadn't been, only five minutes ago, fighting to quell his anxiety and obsessively grooming his physical appearance. At the door, however, he once again paused and inconspicuously ran his hands along the side of his hips. He wanted to give the appearance of cool calm, a friendly face. But it was thick, he felt, the nervousness that continued to rest within him.

"Ah, Touya-san, excellent match!"

Akira nodded in distant acknowledgment to the passing commenter, hoping that the sudden pounding of his heart was not as visible as it felt. At the moment, his mind had locked in a near state of panic as he eyed the individuals walking towards him at a relaxed pace.

The sight they made was almost sweet, with her hand casually at Shindou's elbow and her obvious lack of knowledge regarding his profession on her confused face as she pretended to follow his oration, presented with great pride and passion, of the engaging twists and turns that had won Akira his game. He stopped when he saw Akira watching them, loudly calling out a hearty "Touya!" and unnecessarily waving his free arm to gain attention already received.

"Touya! You're still here!" he noted as they came to stop before him.

"Of course. My game didn't finish too long ago."

Naturally, admitting he had stayed behind for any other purpose would imply he had some ulterior motive, like wanting to stay after – for reasons such as, but not likely, possibly running into Shindou – but Shindou chose to ignore (or maybe he sincerely didn't notice) the fact his game finished over an hour ago and the discussion had been over long enough ago for him to have been well on his way home. Instead, he simply grinned in appreciation for Akira's performance.

"I was just talking about your game," and the way he said it unnecessarily filled Akira with pride, more so than all the compliments and flattery he had received earlier, because this was his rival and, as such, the generous appraisal was almost rare.

Shindou turned to the woman by his side, making vague gestures in Akira's direction, "Mom, this is Touya," here his voice turned low, with the clear intent of wanting to be overheard, "Remember the one I was telling you about? I beat his ass all the time at Go."

Akira felt himself twitch in indignation at the other's choice of words; if anyone's ass was "beat", it most certainly was not his. Instead, he bowed low to avoid glaring at the arrogant smirk that accompanied the introduction, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shindou-san."

For now, his number one priority, obviously not far ahead priority number two (thoroughly wiping the smug look from his rival's face), was to woo the unsuspecting heart of the woman before him. Although, he did wonder what exactly Shindou had told his mother, as he had neither mentioned nor given evidence to having done so in any way. He hoped that whatever crude manifestations of his personality Shindou's words likely painted hadn't permanently scarred his reputation in the Shindou household.

For the most part, Shindou's mother was pleased with his politeness, considering her own child lacked any form of proper manners and judgment. In fact, had it not been for Shindou's excessive commentary in his own defense that Akira could, indeed, be very loud and obnoxious – in bed, at least, or in front of a goban, and Akira's inability to deal with said commentary in as quiet a manner as he tried to deal with most of Shindou's attempts to rile his temper, everything would likely have proceeded as he had planned.

But Akira should have known that his earlier trepidation had not been unfounded, and as Shindou proceeded to explain that Akira snored beyond a volume that was imaginable, Akira saw his potential as a future son-in-law slowly wane further and further away.

**END **

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****Random Notes:**

I wrote this a long, long time ago and had no intention of ever sharing, as I don't think people appreciate my attempts at humor. In my defense, I have to say I am always laughing at my own jokes. If my jokes weren't funny, then why would they make me laugh...?


End file.
